Owner builder project management software ?

Aloha every one.

As my first post can I just say how dam good are these forums.

I was just wondering if anyone can point me in the way of a software program that people use to manage their projects. I have found the ones that builders use but if i can i want to avoid spending thousands buying software I just cant use or need a 10 day course to get the hang of. From what I can tell so far my options are pretty well limited to MS Project but i figured I would ask before spending $900 at Harvey Norman.

Im not after something that I can do take offs and sales functions as alot of builder packages do just something to run the day to day more or less.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

having used Microsoft project for work I wouldn't use it as an owner builder.

Just use a spreadsheet and a checklist.

Here is a link to a fairly good checklist for a professional site supervisor so there are some things you won't need.

http://www.masterbuilders.asn.au/zone_f ... _10_08.pdf

I am using Gantt Project - Sort of a cut down MS Project but more than enough for what I need for putting in schedules, notes etc

http://www.ganttproject.biz/

Works on Mac and Windows. Plus it's Free so thats a nice plus in my book also

Thanks bash and docker. Both great links. I've decided to go for a combination of the checklist and an online project management program software. I live on my iPhone so this one is looking like it will be a tad more friendly for me...link to it below.

www.restimating.com/pm

I couldn't find anything for the iPhone there, or on iTunes. What's it called?

Does anyone know of any scheduling software for Mac, iPhone or iPad, please? I'm doing a renovation and I want to keep track of things like when I need to pull down the ceilings, what has to be done after that, and before we put up the new ceilings.

Project management software only when you actually are at a point where you have control of trade people. As an owner builder doing one project and not having exclusive control of your people and trades it a wast of time.

Really?
If I need to call in a plumber, don't I need to work out when to call him in to put pipes in the walls, then for me to put up the plasterboard, then to call back the plumber to put the tap on the completed wall?

Is that because you dont know when, and you need to get someone to help you and write down when??? My point is you can call the plumber, however he aint gonna come out when you want.

All you need to do is think ahead. I guess if you dont know whats ahead and need a pre planed project line that has been verified by some1 with more experience then there may be some merit.

I've used both FastTrack Schedule 8 & 9 and Merlin 2.7 on a Mac but they are hardly for the faint of heart nor owner builders. They are geared up for much bigger projects although you can use them for smaller jobs. The time used to input data and work out your timelines or schedule of events etc hardly make them worthwhile for one job given their purchase price.
If you need more info on them, shoot me a PM.
I bought an excellent spreadsheet about 6 years ago called " Too-Easy Estimating "
which I then customised to include a timeline of events on one sheet as well.
It works very well for me.

Stewie

You just triggered a thought.

Anyone looking for estimation software should try searching out templates of spreadsheets. There may be a couple out there that are easy to use and might help than a clumsily put together one (like the one that I made up)

Project management software won't tell you how long before the next trade needs to be booked. Only the current tradie can tell you how much longer they'll be and then you can decide when to cal in the next guy.

If you end up with 3 days of nothing between each tradie visiting you're probably doing extremely well.

The best one is Microsoft Project.
All others are just copies.

As someone mentioned no software will tell you how long it will take one plumber to install pipes, unless you write that in, you can just enter data so it reminds you when to call someone in, which rarely works anyway, most trades don't know where they will be in the next 3 days, let alone in 2-3 weeks.

Its not worth it for small projects.

You can try Procore for project management. You can find more details about them here

Would suggest Buildertrend-as a one off, if you can get all the ISO standards installed to match products from your takeoff-and quotations

$299 per month! A bit steep for a one off job that may take 9 months - 1 year.

Stewie

This reply may be a bit too late for you but I have been using quotingcentral.com.au to get ballpark estimates for all trades in my owner build. It is actually a quoting and estimation tool for tradies but the the free account allows me to create quotes for all the required tasks in my build and get a general idea on what people are charging.
It has been a huge timesaver, especially because it is so hard right now to get a hold of trades to do on-site visits and provide quotes.

Seen quite a few apps spruiking build/trade project pricing lately.
It's true, trades are too busy atm to visit/quote jobs and the estimates battlers get are highly inflated FO prices -> take it or leave it, lol, I'll do it if I can r!p you off and you can't figure it out.(humour)

OT, If you have access to your Bim 3D Engineering model, then the data, quants and costs are already accessible.
help how to decide on a builder/trade without quotes
But you must start with the certified plan and data, otherwise they will be coming back at you with increased cost variations, reason apps cant certify construction/engineering/builds. Trades and Builders will blame the apps, but you the client will have to pay for the lack of details and inaccuracies.
You would prefer to pay for concrete in $/m3 don't get sucked in with $/m2 -> concrete is sold by volume m3
Suspended slab co$t

hth